Mia's Cooking
by We Are The Stuff Of Legends
Summary: Mia finally finds out the truth about her horrible cooking...and a certain red ranger has to try to comfort her Jayden/Mia


**So I've been working on this one-shot since like...the second episode of Samurai. I absolutely love the new pink and red, mostly because they're unlike any other red or pink I've seen xD so, without further ado, here's _Mia's Cooking_**

**ps. lololol I'm sorry; I just had to add that last bit of Mike/Emily; they're driving me crazy on the show because Mike is always fawning over Emily (legit, look at his face when Emily talks about being a bride) and Emily is so goddammned clueless o.o There's only so much naivety until I blow :D _  
><em>**

**xxRoseofDeathxx_  
><em>**

* * *

><p>It had been a great day; they had beaten another Nighlock, almost took down Dayuu, and had even gotten ice cream. But there was one challenge yet to be conquered. It was the most gruesome, sickening, difficult challenge they had yet to face...Mia's cooking. It wasn't like they were trying to make fun of her or anything, but she and culinary school were definitely not friends at all. This was most evident in her dishes that she loved to cook for her teammates. When the dark brown haired boy heard the news he groaned. The blonde who was sitting fairly close to him glared at him.<p>

"Mike! Don't groan; be supportive! Mia loves to cook!" she snapped and Mike rolled his eyes at her. "Don't roll your eyes at me!" she glared at him once more. Mike raised his eyebrow.

"Emily, as much as we all love Mia, you know it's unanimous that her cooking isn't top notch," Mike said quietly and Emily looked down uncomfortably.

"I hate lying, but Mia's my friend. She supports everything I do, so I'm going to support what she does. Even if it makes me sick," the blonde declared earning wary glances from the African American blue ranger and their brunette red ranger and leader.

"I don't know Emily. As much as I want to support whatever Mia's doing, I really don't think that cooking is her forte. In my honesty, I think she should give it up," the African American man cringed as Emily shot him a warning glance.

"What a friend you are Kevin. And you Jayden?" the blonde redirected the question to their fearless red ranger who was looking, ironically, scared. He ran his hand through his brunette hair.

"As much as I would love to eat Mia's cooking, I really don't want to have to wake up in the middle of the night for another retching session like last week," Jayden shrugged sympathetically and the rangers shuddered at their memory of last week. No one had gotten any sleep because they had all been too busy staying awake and throwing up the burned dishes that Mia had prepared. Emily slumped her shoulders in defeat. The rangers suddenly jumped as the pink ranger's footsteps could be heard. In a few seconds, Mia appeared at the doorway.

"Hi guys! I was just about to get started on cooking dinner! Why do you guys look so upset?" she innocently asked and Jayden, Mike, Kevin, and Emily grimaced. Mike was the first one to stand up and sling a casual arm around Mia.

"Oh come on Mia, you cook every night! Why not take a break for once and let us order out?" Mike pleaded and Mia's eyebrows rose. "Not that we don't like your cooking! It's," he took a gulp, hating how he was lying. "...just simply amazing," Mike smiled though winced, for his voice had begun to become a bit higher pitched. It seemed that Mia didn't notice anything and disappointedly nodded.

"Alright, but tomorrow, you're definitely letting me cook!" she laughed and the rangers put on the best grins they could muster. What a day it would be tomorrow.

* * *

><p>Mia hummed as she prepared to start cooking. She had the pan going and she had the counter floured so she could start making her famous meatballs and spaghetti. She was so thankful that they let her cook and even more thankful that they loved her cooking. She was about to go out and greet her friends and teammates when they started talking about something that caught her ears.<p>

"So Mia's cooking?" Kevin asked and Mia imagined her friends nodding their heads. But one thing confused her; Kevin sounded less than unenthusiastic. What was wrong with Kevin today? She leaned back and listened further.

"Yea, but I still say we go with my idea," Emily chirped and Mia slightly leaned her head out and saw that Mike, Kevin, and _Jayden_ were shaking their heads, the first two rolling their eyes. She felt her heart sink a little. Was something wrong with her cooking? Jayden spoke first, making Mia's heart flutter. She would never admit it out loud, but she had a small crush on the red ranger and his opinion meant more to her than all the other opinions combined.

"Emily...we keep telling you that getting her hopes up isn't the best plan. I keep thinking that one of us should go ahead and tell her the truth," Jayden spoke calmly and quietly. Mia felt her heart break. Her cooking wasn't good? But everyone had loved every dish she made!

"Jayden's right Emily. As much as we love Mia, I think it's best if we tell her," Mike chipped in and Emily sighed in frustration, causing Kevin to stand up and cross him arms in that demanding way that only Kevin could do.

"Em, we discussed this before. It's really time to stop pretending. Mia's cooking isn't good and we have to accept the fact. I think it's bad that we're pretending. One day, she's going to find out that we're pretending and then we'll have a huge fight amongst our team. Plus, I don't think any of us could stand to see Mia that upset. She really genuinely thinks that her cooking is amazing...but I think it's time that we break it to her." There was a loud clang and the yellow, green, blue, and red rangers looked up to see an upset Mia looking at them with the fallen pot of food all over the floor. "Mia..." Kevin whispered taking a step forward. The pink ranger sniffed a little and took a step back, which upset Kevin.

"How long have you been listening?" Mike asked quietly and Mia glared at him, which, quite frankly, shocked all of them, since Mia never glared at anyone. Angrily brushing the tears away, she hugged herself and looked down.

"Long enough to know that my cooking is horrendous," Mia spoke quietly, although in the silence of the room, it sounded quite deadly. Emily was first on her feet rushing towards Mia.

"Mia, I'm so sorry!" Emily exclaimed only to be gently brushed aside by Mia with a glare. She looked down. Mike rushed over to Emily as her body began to shake a little.

"Calm down Mia! It's not a big deal if your cooking isn't top notch; just don't take it out on us!" Mike angrily cried and Mia looked up at him, her eyes deadly. _That was the LAST straw._ If looks could kill, Mike would have been dead seven times already. Her eyes were glossy as more hot tears poured down her eyes. She looked outraged and upset, clenching her fingers into fists.

"Well maybe it _is_ a big deal to me! Just leave me alone!" Mia snapped though her voice was thick with the oncoming tears. Storming out of the dojo, the others flinched as the door slammed; hard. Red, blue, yellow, and green all looked at each other nervously trying to figure out who would go try to calm her down.

"Maybe we should just let her calm down first?" Kevin suggested, but it came out more as a question. The others nodded, too scared to even go and attempt to make her feel better. Emily looked down feeling like everything was her fault. "It's not your fault Em," Kevin sighed and Emily shook head.

"I know, it's all our faults. We didn't say anything and we let her keep believing that she was good at something that she really wasn't," Emily argued and Kevin sighed, feeling worse than before.

An hour passed and Mia still hadn't returned; to say that everyone was worried have been an understatement. The four other rangers looked at each other nervously once more before Mike got up. "All right, let's solve this. Jayden, I think you should go talk to Mia," Mike suggested, an unusually serious look on his face. Jayden looked up indigently, eyes blazing.

"Why me? If you want someone to go talk to her, why don't you talk to Mia yourself?" Jayden retorted and Mike rolled his eyes.

"Because, it's obvious you like her and that she likes you back," he smirked, but sobered seeing his leader's venomous glare. "And besides," he rushed on hurriedly, "you're the red ranger and you should know what to say to make her feel better. Plus, if I went out to talk to her, the least she'd do is castrate me. All in favor?" he looked around. Kevin shot his hand up; sighing, Jayden looked towards Emily who seemed to be debating. Hesitantly, to Jayden's dismay, she raised her hand, shooting him an apologetic look. Sighing, the red ranger shook his head and made his way outside. He made his way to the pond on the outskirts of the temple mansion, where he knew he would find Mia.

He looked around, the light of the full moon aiding his efforts. His eyes suddenly picked up on a figure whose back was towards him, most likely staring at the water in front of them. Jayden's eyes instantly brightened when he recognized her and he stood there peering at her, not moving. After about two minutes or so, the figure turned back and glared at him with hurt and fury he had never seen before in her. "You just going to stand there? Or did you actually have a mission in mind?" she asked, anger still evident in her voice. He flinched a little but she had already turned away. Jayden cautiously approached her and sat next to her. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the silence.

"I'm sorry," Mia suddenly spoke and Jayden's eyes shot open and he shot her a questioning look. "I shouldn't have snapped like that; it was only to be expected," Mia briefly laughed darkly as she hugged her knees towards her chest. Jayden scooted a bit closer towards her and looked at her curiously.

"You honestly have nothing to be sorry for. It's our fault; we should have told you before about how..." Jayden hesitantly trailed off. Mia looked at him, her shining brown orbs now full of fresh hot tears.

"Bad? Horrible? Horrendous?" Mia suggested quietly; her voice was a bit nasally due to the copious tears she had shed. "Jayden, I know what my cooking's like," Mia said quietly.

"You do?" he asked and Mia nodded as a few more tears fell down her porcelain face.

"I used to cook at home before I came here, to the temple, to train. I made every meal; breakfast, lunch, dinner, and I usually made a snack as well. Every day, people would come up to me and tell me how nice my cooking was; how unique and interesting the flavor was- I should have known what they meant. But instead, stupid me thought they were complimenting me. I began to cook more and more and I began to make my own recipes. It was nice...until people started refusing my food. At first, I understood. They had it every day, all three meals, so obviously they wanted some take out. But soon, my family started to reject my food more often. I finally found out the truth when I overheard them talking about my cooking," Mia had told her little story all while looking down at the water that was in front of them. Jayden looked towards her.

"I'm sorry...perhaps we should have told you earlier. I'm sure it must have hurt you when the same thing happened all over again, only this time it was your friends..." Jayden smiled slightly and Mia shook her head, emitting a small sigh.

"No, no; yet again, I'm sorry for making you guys go through that torture that is my cooking. You guys are my friends and didn't tell me because you didn't want me getting hurt. I don't mind; it's ok, really. But no one should have to eat something as horrible as that," Mia whispered and inwardly cringed as Jayden's eyes bore through her skin.

"But that's not the only reason of why you're so upset?" Jayden guessed and Mia looked at him with half amused, half confused eyes. "I'm the red ranger; I'm pretty good at these guessing games," he chuckled a bit then sobered as he saw her eyes tear up a bit and some fell down. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?" Jayden asked, rushing towards her to wipe a tear away.

"Did you know..."she hesitated a bit. "That in my culture, your cooking ability is a factor of how eligible of a wife you're going to become?" Mia averted his gaze and Jayden immediately began to understand. "They told me I was never going to become married. They told me...to just give up, that no man would ever look past my horrible cooking, though there's nothing really special about me in the first place. They told me I was to die a loner!" Mia suddenly snapped and started to cry as Jayden held her close. "I've tried so hard. Just-ugh! I'm never going to get this right. Never..." Mia sobbed and Jayden shook his head, suddenly feeling sorry for the pink ranger that sat right next to him. It was as if Mia suddenly remembered something and pulled away. "I, I'm sorry, for putting my struggles on you. I promise I won't cook again," Mia stuttered as she looked down. Jayden once again looked at the pink ranger in curiosity.

"Mia, why do you apologize for every little problem that you have? We're you're friends-" Jayden began.

"Because my burdens shouldn't be put on people!" Mia snapped, interrupting Jayden. "Jayden, you have to understand. Other than cooking and cleaning and taking care of children, the woman has no other job. It's basic cultural knowledge that the woman shouldn't let any of her burdens affect anyone else. And all of you guys are so close to me; you have so many burdens of your own. Emily and her fight to fill her sister's shoes; Mike and his fight to be a better samurai; Kevin and his fight to overcome the pain of losing his dream of being an Olympic swimmer; and you Jayden. Especially you! You have the whole world in your hands. One day, you have to seal Master Xandred away, and who am I to increase your burden by putting all of mine on you?" Mia explained, all while her voice got louder and louder and her breathing increased.

Jayden watched her, his eyebrows taking in her every movement and asset. Flushed face either meant embarrassment or frustration. Her constantly moving hands meant she was upset and was trying to make a point. Her averted gaze meant that she felt guilty. It was somewhat funny how Jayden knew Mia so well. "Mia, letting other people know about your problems isn't putting a burden on them. We're your friends, Mia, and you know we'll try to help with your problems; no matter what it is," Jayden smiled softly as Mia's crying subsided. The Asian pink ranger quickly wiped her tears away.

"I'm being silly, aren't I? I mean, crying about something as silly as cooking?" Mia laughed and quickly got up to walk away but was stopped by a certain red ranger who had gotten up and grabbed her wrist. She tried to get it out, to no avail. "Jayden...?"

"I don't think it's silly. Mia, what you said before. That there's nothing special about you?" Jayden asked and Mia looked down, bracing herself for his words about how that was all true. "Well it's not," Jayden spoke loudly and truly and Mia felt her whole face flush at his words. "In all honesty, I think everything is special about you. I love the way you smile and the way your eyes light up whenever you get happy. I love how caring and considerate and open minded you can be. I also love how you're so accepting towards everyone and how you can make anyone's day better, no matter how bad it is. So don't you dare think there's nothing special or nothing anyone loves about you," Jayden stated as if he were reading from a textbook. By now, Mia's struggling had stopped and she had come a little closer to Jayden. His breath had hitched as she came in closer and lay her head on his chest. His hands automatically wrapped around her and as soon as it began, the sensual embrace had ended.

"Thanks Jayden. It was nice of you to come out here and talk to me...although I'm sure the others were too scared to come out and at least try to talk to me," Mia giggled as she had turned around to thank the red ranger. Her voice had become a small squeaky stutter as the red ranger neared her once more. "Jayden...what are you-?"

"Oh, and I forgot to add; although your cooking may be bad, I think you'd make a wonderful mother and a beautiful bride," he smiled as his lips pressed on hers. Mia smiled into the kiss and moved closer, carefully wrapping her arms around his neck. Jayden internally smirked as he saw that her face was flushed a bright pink. As the two were lip locked, the enraged voice of Mike was heard, with an exasperated Emily trying to calm him down.

"You send him out to try to talk to her, and instead he makes out with her. I mean, geez, don't they realize that we're watching them? Get a freaking-mmph!" his voice was shut as a certain yellow ranger had shut him up with a loving kiss.


End file.
